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April 27, 2018

US Should Not Sanction India Over Defence Deal With Russia: American Lawmakers

At an event on the Capitol Hill, experts and
lawmakers warned that any imposition of sanctions on India, which is now
a major defence partner, could be disastrous for the bilateral
relationship and as such there is an urgent need to prevent that from
happening.

Top American lawmakers and experts have warned that imposition of
sanctions on India under a newly-enacted law if it buys the S-400 air
defence missile system from Russia could be disastrous for the Indo-US
ties.

Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
(CAATSA), which was signed into law in August 2017 and went into effect
in January this year, mandates the Trump administration to punish
entities engaging in significant transaction with the defence or
intelligence sectors of Russia.

At an event on the Capitol Hill,
experts and lawmakers warned that any imposition of sanctions on India,
which is now a major defence partner, could be disastrous for the
bilateral relationship and as such there is an urgent need to prevent
that from happening.

"I do think, it (CAATSA) is a serious issue
that needs to be dealt. There needs to be a dialogue between the US and
India. Our goal is not to sanction India, Congressman Joe Crowley, House
Democratic Caucus Chairman, said at the US-India Friendship event.

"But
given the kind of destabilising activities Russia has been doing across
the world in particular against democracies, it is important to slap
sanctions against Russia," he said.

"But
when it comes to those third-party agreements I think there has to be
dialogue between the US and India; understanding the needs that India
has as a nation for self-defence as well that has to be taken into
consideration, Crowley said in response to a question.

India is currently in an advance stage of negotiations with Russia for five S-400 system worth an estimate USD 4.5 billion.

The
S-400 Triumf long-range air defence missile system has the capability
to destroy incoming hostile aircraft, missiles and even drones at ranges
of up to 400 km. The S-400 missile system can fire three types of
missiles and simultaneously engage 36 targets, thereby creating a
layered defence.

Flagging the issue, Nisha Desai Biswal, the
former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia and the
current president of the US India Business Council said that CAATSA
sanctions is something that members of Congress need to be "really
critically aware" of and thinking through as they deal with the
intention around the Russia Sanctions legislation.

"It is
something that we are all mindful of and looking at very very carefully.
But I do think that we need to acknowledge and address the continuing
importance for India of its relationship with Russia and how we how we
manage the way forward on that issue, Ms Biswal said.

CAATSA
sanctions would "damage" US-India relationship, warned Keith Webster,
who represented Pentagon in the Defense Trade and Technology Initiative
(DTTI) in the previous Obama Administration. He is currently president
of the defence and aerospace export council US Chamber of Commerce.

Observing
that the purpose of this legislation is certainly not to target India,
Benjamin Schwartz who leads the US-India Business Council's Defence and
Aerospace programme, said one of the unintended consequences of two
words significant transactions in that legislation is that it's
exacerbated some of the concerns about the US as a reliable security
provider.The legislation says that if a significant transaction takes place with
the Russian defence or intelligence services that country or that entity
is subject to potential US sanctions. There is a potential of a waiver
to take place at the presidential level, Mr Schwartz said.

"I
say this is unintended because the only country or at least the country
that would benefit the very most from any type of sanctions from the
United States on India would be Russia. So that was clearly not the
intention of this legislation. I personally don't think that the US
Congress or the US government would ultimately follow through with that
kind of situation because that wasn't the intention of the
legislation."

"But one of the challenges that we faced in
promoting US India defence relationship is demonstrating that the US is a
reliable partner of India. So all efforts should be on trying to
eliminate any of the ambiguity or the uncertainty that that legislative
language may be creating," Mr Schwartz said.